John Tavares

It is no lie that the Islanders are in need of some secondary scoring. Of the many forwards left on the free agent market two names, Alexander Semin and Shane Doan, should be sticking out to Islanders GM Garth Snow and Owner Charles Wang. (Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated)

The New York Islanders were very active yesterday, acquiring three new players on the open market on the first day of NHL Free Agency. Forward Brad Boyes was signed to a one-year, $1 million deal and was soon followed by defenseman Matt Carkner's three-year contract worth $4.5 million.

Not long after these signings, former Islanders forward P.A. Parenteau inked a four-year, $16 million deal with the Colorado Avalance. Although many on twitter felt that the Isles could have easily afforded Parenteau's new contract, it still made plenty of sense to let him go. Four years for a 29 year old hockey player that only had one season worthy of top line honors and only two full seasons of NHL experience is a lot to commit too. In addition, Matt Moulson presently makes less per year than Parenteau's new contract. Moulson has been a consistent thirty goal scorer since joining the Islanders and has maintained chemistry with his long-time buddy, John Tavares. GM Garth Snow must have seen the risks in possibly off-setting the locker room if he showed that he felt Parenteau was more deserving a higher salary to go along with the other risk factors involved in that contract. With that being said, I wish Parenteau the best of luck and will look forward to seeing him return to Coliseum ice.

But in every difficulty lies an opportunity, and that is what Brad Boyes has been given.

Today PA Parenteau officially become an unrestricted free agent for all 30 teams, including the Islanders, to try and sign. I think you can assume that Parenteau will go wherever he gets the biggest contract and if the past, under Garth Snow, has shown us anything, Parenteau has played his final game in orange and blue.

Lets be honest the Islanders aren’t going to be able to get a top-6 forward in this free agent class and even though many Islanders fans would like to see Snow make a run at Bobby Ryan, it’s probably not going to happen. Snow is on the right track with drafting, grooming players and signing role players in free agency. So Parenteau’s successor on the first line will come from within the organization, the question is who will it be?

P.A. Parenteau went from cheap free agent pick up to first line winger in only two seasons, finding a nice niche alongside of John Tavares and opposite of Matt Moulson. The trio headlined the Islanders as the top scorers with Parenteau recording 18 goals, 49 assists and 67 points. He also was 12th in the league in assists.

This was a guy that could barely scratch the New York Rangers line-up despite averaging more than a point per game in the AHL four consecutive seasons in a row. At 29 years old, Parenteau is definitely going to want to cash in on a long-term deal that will reward him for his services.

Can you blame the guy? He's spent a long time trying to make it in the big league and finally has proven that he is more than capable of playing in the NHL.

But are the Islanders preparing to part ways with one of their most important core members?

On this edition of the prospect report I will give the top 5 players most likely to join the Islanders this Friday at the 2012 NHL entry draft. Now this isn’t a top 5 of players available in the draft this is just my top 5 of players that I could see Garth taking in the 1st round of the draft.

#5 Morgan Rielly- Defenseman, Moose Jaw (WHL) 6’-0” 190lbs

Morgan Rielly comes in at number 5 with one requirement for the Islanders to pick him and that is; if the right deal comes along and Garth Snow ends up trading down a few spots. Rielly is projected to be a very good future NHL prospect that has a great offensive game. He missed most of last season with an ACL injury but is still considered to be one of the better offensive defenseman in the draft.

As speculation over P.A Parenteau's desire to hit the free agent market continues to grow, so does the restlessness of the Isles' fan base.

With David Jones of the Colorado Avalanche receiving a $4 million a year deal for four years, the money and market for Parenteau may have grown that much stronger. While David Jones and P.A Parenteau were statistically far apart during the 2011-2012 NHL season, the former amassed 30 less points than Parenteau and was given a contract that might just make it that much harder for the Islanders and Parenteau to come to terms.

Some might argue that the contract that David Jones received from the Avalanche was a bit overpriced, but getting Parenteau at the same rate would not be such a bad signing for the Islanders. Parenteau spent the majority of his time between the first and second line during the 2011-2012 season and managed to register 67 points (18 Goals, 49 Assists) in 80 games played. Even though some may think that it is not worth overpaying for Parenteau, the forward plays an essential role for the New York Islanders and would be hard to replace if he chooses to sign with a different team during free agency.

Before I begin talking Islanders hockey, I owe my readers, as well as the other bloggers that write for this site, an apology. For those of you who don't know, the bloggers here at TCL Isles follow a schedule that I create. I also arrange my blogs to follow in that schedule as well, and I continue to remind our staff to do their best to keep up with it while trying to allow some freedome since it's the summer.

I have been out of sync with managing the site for about the past two weeks. Without getting into things, I can promise that I am now fully back on track and apologize for my absence.Fortunately, there hasn't been an over abundance of stories to report.

Sadly, John Tavares lost to Pekka Rinne in the EA Sports voting bracket for the cover of NHL 2013. He made it all the way to the semi-finals but fell short to the Predators net-minder. Maybe next year will be a different story. But Islanders fans certainly made a point to the rest of the league by showing that their voice can be loud when they have a reason to be heard.

So the Islanders have made it to the semi-finals. Some probably doubted the team's ability to make it this far, especially when competing with some of the biggest stars in the league. But it comes down to these next few days to see whether or not they will be competing in the final round.

That is, of course, for the cover of EA Sports' NHL 2013. John Tavares so far has eliminated Jordan Eberle in the first round and Pavel Datsyuk in the second round. Currently Tavares is facing off against Pekka Rinne, the starting goaltender for the Nashville Predators. Rinne might be tough for JT to beat, considering he received more votes than New York Rangers goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist.

The countdown of the Islanders top 15 prospects not playing in the AHL or NHL continues on as we have reached the top 5. If you missed either of the other two parts of the countdown, well numbers 10-6 can be found here and numbers 15-11 can be found here. Without further ado here is the top 5.

#5 Andrey Pedan – Defenseman, Guelph Storm (OHL) 6’-4” 205lbs

(Photo Credit: GuelphStorm.com)Pedan just finished his second season with the Guelph Storm of the OHL and it was another successful season for the young defenseman from Russia. Andrey played in 63 games this season finishing with 40 points (10 goals and 30 assists). He also played in 6 games during the OHL playoffs where the Storm were eliminated in the first round. (Photo Credit: GuelphStorm.com)

It was announced three days ago that Islanders forward, Matt Moulson has been named as a finalist for the Lady Byng Trophy, which goes to the player judged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct while also displaying a high level of playing ability.